£2bn haul expected from new tax amnesty

The taxman could be looking to recoup £2bn in unpaid tax from offshore savers, according to an estimate by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

HM Revenue & Customs' second 'tax amnesty' will target around 500 UK and foreign banks, with the taxman having recently won the right to access four unnamed financial institutions to details of UK resident customers with offshore accounts.

'Using the estimate of tax lost in these new Special Commissioners’ decisions and applying it across the population of 500 or so institutions that HMRC is engaged with, it is estimated that HMRC will recover more than £2bn in unpaid tax in this second and final amnesty,' Stephen Camm, tax partner, PwC.

The amnesty, or New Disclosure Opportunity, will run until March 2010.

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